Saving Thomas Perry
by TwilightSparkle3562
Summary: One year after being forced out of Welton Academy, John Keating returns to help Thomas Perry realize the error of his ways and convince him that he was the one responsible for Neil's death.
1. You Killed Him!

Disclaimer: I do not own "Dead Poets Society" or its characters. They are property of the Walt Disney Company and its affiliates.

"Saving Thomas Perry"

By TwilightSparkle3562

Chapter 1

"You Killed Him"

Thomas Perry and his wife stood in the funeral parlor next to the casket bearing the body of their son, Neil. Three days earlier, Neil committed suicide as a result of the continuous pressure built by his father. Rather than take responsibility for Neil's suicide, Thomas put all of the blame on John Keating, Neil's teacher, causing him to be fired from Welton Academy. Now, here he was, about to bury his son. As family and friends walked past the casket, a group of young boys entered the funeral parlor, with one of them giving Thomas a very dirty look. After saying their respects, one of them approached Thomas.

"You killed Neil," the boy seethed, looking Thomas Perry right in the face as he clenched his fists together.

"Excuse me?" Thomas asked, feeling very insulted. "I beg your pardon? How dare you make such an accusation towards me?"

But the boy didn't answer and flung one of his fists at Thomas, punching him in the nose and knocking him back against a wall, briefly causing chaos.

"You killed Neil, you monster!" the boy wailed as he was being restrained by his friends. "You killed him! You killed him!"

"I'll see you are punished for this action!" shouted Thomas, being helped to his feet as the boys left. "So, help me God, I will!"

"What's going on here?" cried the funeral director, rushing into the room. "Mr. Perry, are you all right?"

"The little punk broke my nose," groaned Thomas. "Saying that I killed my only son! My son killed himself and nothing more!"

However, as he was being helped, his wife could only just watch in shock and disbelief, not even bothering to help her husband in any way.

"Shall I call the police?" asked a relative.

"No," answered Thomas, waving him off. "He'll stay away from me and I'll let Mr. Nolan handle him. He was one of Neil's friends, a member of those radicals that Keating brainwashed."

"Well, he's gone now," said another relative. "You should go home. Don't worry about us, we'll handle everything here."

…

Thomas groaned as he was led out of the parlor, still bitter and angry over what had just happened. As he drove home that night, Thomas noticed that his wife didn't say anything to him at all the entire time.

"Why are you so silent?" he asked her. "You haven't said anything this entire time about how I am feeling."

"Because I'm angry," she answered turning to face her husband.

"You should be angry," remarked Thomas, sighing heavily. "That boy doesn't even deserve to be called a man for what he did tonight. If only Neil would have just followed the plan that I paved for him…"

"Tom!" she said, her face scrunching with anger. "Tom, that boy was right about you. Our son, our Neil, would have still been alive if you just let him do what he wishes."

Thomas' eyes widened with shock on hearing this coming from his soul mate.

"I beg your pardon!" he cried in disbelief. "What did you just say to me?"

"That you should have let him do what he wanted to do," Mrs. Perry snapped as they pulled into the driveway. "I'm saying it now! Your dictatorship has caused our son to leave this world by his own hand!"

"How dare you make such an accusation to me?" Thomas shouted, getting out of the car and slamming it. "Our son could have had a decent life if only he had listened to me! Does it hurt to ask for a little obedience every once in a while?"

"Listen to yourself, Thomas Perry!" countered Mrs. Perry as they walked into the house. "You have always been a man who wanted others to live their lives according to your law! The world doesn't revolve around you Thomas and you know it!"

"Are you saying that I deserved what happened tonight? That I deserved to be punched in the face from a boy that allied with our son?"

"Yes, I do," hissed Mrs. Perry, tears streaming down her face. "Our son is dead because you wouldn't let him live his dreams, Thomas! You killed him because of your selfish ambitions!"

Insulted, Thomas charged towards his wife, only to be pushed back onto the sofa by her.

"I wasn't selfish, damn you!" he cried. "You know very well that firm discipline molds a boy into a man! That's all I wanted was discipline!"

"Discipline?" gasped Mrs. Perry. "This wasn't discipline, this was a dictatorship! I often at times wondered if I made the right decision all those years ago to marry you in the first place!"

Thomas didn't take this answer lightly and got up, storming over to her and pushing her against the wall of the living room.

"You listen and you listen good," cried Thomas. "You know very well that from the moment our Neil was a baby, I would be the one to decide his future! My father's future was decided for him as was my future! Your job was to keep your mouth shut and let Neil do exactly I as say!"

"By sending him to Military school? He wanted to be happy, Thomas, and you denied him that happiness!"

"He would have been happy had he became a doctor," Thomas snapped. "Do you realize how much money he would have made?"

"But he wouldn't have been a happy man," cried Mrs. Perry, pushing Thomas away. "Children have got to be free to lead their own lives, Thomas. Because you never gave Neil that chance, he is dead now and only you are to blame!"

Mrs. Perry then stormed up to their bedroom while Thomas followed, his face filled with disgust and fury.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm ending this marriage, Tom," she said, firmly as she began to gather her clothes and belongings. "I can no longer be married to a man who doesn't let others live out their lives the way they want to!"

"No you are not ending this marriage!" Thomas ordered, standing in the doorway as Mrs. Perry finished packing. "You are mine even if I have to lick you to prove that!"

But, Mrs. Perry didn't care what Thomas said and she merely pushed him out of the way.

"You get back here right now!" barked Thomas, but Mrs. Perry didn't listen nor respond to any of Thomas' pleas. "I'm warning you, get back here now!"

"Rot in hell," she muttered as she started the car and drove off. Thomas tried to stop her, but he was too late and Mrs. Perry drove off into the night.

"Traitorous witch," he shouted as he walked back into the house and began to trash the living room in his rage. "All I ask for is obedience and this is what I get? Damn you, Neil! You created this mess all because you couldn't play by my rules! Why was a little obedience too much for you? You destroyed this family and may you and Keating rot in hell for this!"

…

Thomas then proceeded to continue tearing his house apart in rage that his perfect world, his rule over his family was destroyed by his own doing.

He refused to believe it, but it was true, Thomas Perry had destroyed his own family and it would take one of his enemies to make him see the error of his ways…


	2. I Was Misjudged

Chapter 2

"I Was Misjudged."

It didn't take long for John Keating to land himself a new teaching job after his dismissal from Welton Academy. He was now teaching at Westwood Academy, another boys school that wasn't so stuck up like Welton was. But, as he got comfortable at his new job and as he was getting to know his new pupils, he couldn't help but think about the students he was forced to leave behind at Welton.

"O Captain, My Captain," said the school's headmaster much to Keating's surprise one afternoon as another school day came to an end. "Are you busy right now?"

"No, Mr. Davis, I'm not," chuckled Keating, putting aside his task of correcting the papers of his students. "You can come in. Something I can do for you? Maybe I can call on the spirits of the past to help."

His new boss smiled in amusement upon hearing this.

"No, I think we should leave them alone," he laughed as he sat down next to Keating. "Actually, John, there is something that myself and some of the faculty have been noticing about you, along with some of your students."

"And what's that?"

"That's you've been, how shall I say it? Reserved about something, something that you've been hiding from us."

Keating sighed heavily upon hearing this.

"As a matter of fact," he said. "There is something that has been on my mind. Do you remember reading about Neil Perry, one of my former students?"

"Yes," replied Mr. Davis. "Such a waste to die at your hand and at such a young age too. Well, I know that you are not responsible for what happened to him."

"I was only trying to get him to embrace his inner creativity," confessed Keating, sighing heavily. "While trying to get him and my students to prepare for the real world. But, I was fired for simply doing my job, Mr. Davis. Have you ever fired anyone for simply doing their job?"

Mr. Davis of course was shocked to hear such a thing, but he understood.

"No never," he replied. "I only fire or expel those who defy our schools custom and way of life. You know that, John. But, Mr. Nolan was kind enough to recommend you for this teaching position. You should be happy for that."

"And I am happy for that," remarked Keating as he climbed from his seat and strolled over to the classroom window looking out over one of the sports fields. "But, I feel that my work at Welton isn't finished, even though it is."

"In what way?"

"Have you ever heard of a Thomas Perry before?"

"No, I haven't until a few days ago when I read in the paper that he says you were responsible for his son's death," answered Mr. Davis. "Mr. Nolan knows you weren't, but he was under immense pressure to remove you from your post."

"This isn't about Mr. Nolan or just a job at Welton," counted Keating, walking back to his boss. "I know for a fact that Mr. Perry misjudged me for who I am. If you read the article, he claims that I was brainwashing Neil into becoming a radical. Brainwashing is something I would never do, nor would I ever claim. I need to get through to Mr. Perry, get him to realize that I am not like that radical who got us into the war."

As he listened, Mr. Davis couldn't help but wonder if his newest hire was really true about what he was saying.

"Then, why don't you confront him about your feelings?" suggested Mr. Davis. "It feels good to get something off of your chest if it is bothering you. Besides, judging from this article, Mr. Perry needs to wake up and realize that his way of life isn't the way."

Keating returned to his desk and wrote down a message _"Talk to Mr. Perry"_ on a piece of parchment before placing it in his desk drawer.

…

The next morning, Mr. Davis called the entire student body into the school's church and told them about what had been happening.

"As you might have heard or have been hearing about," he addressed to the student body. "A student at nearby Welton Academy had committed suicide a few months ago because he had been denied the chance to pursue his dreams. I want to reassure you all that no matter what anyone says, you have the right here at Westwood, to pursue your dreams whether it would be as a sports athlete, an actor, a poet or a writer. Mr. Keating otherwise known as O Captain, My Captain has asked me to tell you all that he is starting a club called _The Dead Poets Society_ , here at Westwood and any one of you who have a passion for the arts should join."

The student body broke into applause upon hearing this from their headmaster. Many of whom even wanted to stand on the pews, but realized that this was neither the time nor the place to do it.

"Also," continued Mr. Davis, silencing the student body. "Also, Mr. Keating has asked me to tell you all that if there is anyone who tries to put you down, don't let them because you are stronger than what people say you are. If there is one thing I ask out of all of you is that I will not allow what happened to the student at Welton to happen here."

As he watched his boss speak, Keating turned around and looked back at the altar, looking up at the mural of Jesus on the Cross that hung in back of the altar.

"God," Keating asked quietly. "I pray to you to help me make Thomas Perry realize the error of his ways and to keep Neil in your loving arms."

…

Later that same day, Keating left Westwood Academy and began the return drive to the town where Welton was located, determined to make Mr. Perry realize that all of the actions he made against Neil and himself were wrong. However, as he drove, he noticed a woman leaving a motel. The woman looked familiar to Keating and he pulled into the parking lot to get a better look at her.

"Um, excuse me?" he called to the woman. "Are you Mrs. Perry, Neil's mother?"

"I am," answered Mrs. Perry. "You must be Mr. Keating."

"Otherwise known as O Captain, My Captain," remarked Keating. "I was wondering if you could tell me where your house is?"

"About a few miles from here," said Mrs. Perry. "But, I don't live there anymore, Mr. Keating. Not after what happened to Neil and I know that Thomas is responsible for it, not you."

"Then, why don't we talk about it over some coffee and tea?" suggested Keating and Mrs. Perry accepted the invite.

Now, Keating's quest to reform Thomas Perry was about to begin and there was no better place to start than with Neil's mother…


	3. Bullheaded Man

Chapter 3

"Bullheaded Man"

Taking up on Keating's offer, Mrs. Perry accompanied her deceased son's former teacher to a café not far from the motel where Mrs. Perry had been staying.

"This is really nice of you, Mr. Keating," she remarked. "I've still been trying to come to terms with why Neil did what he did. Thomas is such a SOB that our family has been destroyed because of him, but he thinks otherwise."

"Has he always been like this?" asked Keating.

"No," answered Mrs. Perry. "But, after the war, he changed to a set minded man. I don't know why, but every time he sees or hears of activities that Welton offers, he calls them garbage and propaganda. I tried to get him to see sense, but he threatens to punish me if I didn't do things his way. Thomas believes that if Neil were to follow the path he wanted to follow, then he would be getting nowhere in life."

"And he thinks that I teach garbage and propaganda, is that it?" remarked Keating, a hint of insult in his voice. "Teaching young boys like Neil to embrace their true feelings is not garbage and propaganda, it's getting them to open up their true destinies. Neil would have been perfectly fine as an actor, Mrs. Perry, wouldn't you agree with me?"

Mrs. Perry considered her feelings for a moment and then took a deep sigh.

"Yes, I think he would have made a great actor and he would have made twice as much as a doctor," she said, her voice filled with hurt. "All I wanted for Neil is for him to be happy, Mr. Keating. But, Thomas denied that. I can no longer be married to a man who takes happiness away. By taking away Neil's happiness, he took away my happiness as well as the happiness of his own family. What's more is he took away the chance to live a healthy and happy life with me, the woman he married."

Mr. Keating absorbed every single word that was spoken to him and deep down, he began to plan something, a plan to shatter Thomas Perry's way of life to pieces in his own creative manner.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know, Mr. Keating," sighed Mrs. Perry. "But, I am going to divorce Thomas. Our marriage is over whether he likes it or not and I will never forgive him for this, Mr. Keating. He can try as he wants, but I am not going to be tolerate his ways anymore."

"That's entirely up to you, Mrs. Perry," said Mr. Keating, taking a sip of coffee. "God understands what you wish to do and perhaps more than ever, you need his guidance. What's more is you have my support."

Knowing that she had found a strong ally, Mrs. Perry got up and left the diner leaving Keating alone. Watching her hail a taxi, Keating then proceeded to concoct his plan to get Thomas Perry to open up.

…

Meanwhile, at the town cemetery, the funeral for Neil was at an end. His casket was lowered into the earth as the priest finished with the last rites. All Thomas could do was stand at the open grave of his only son.

"Neil, why was a little obedience so difficult for you to follow?" he asked, looking down at the soon-to-be buried casket. "You could have been someone as a doctor, made a lot of money, raised a family, but no. You just wanted to follow a radical in John Keating, didn't you? Well, it's too late now. You've destroyed your family, destroyed your mother and destroyed me. I hope you are happy now."

Thomas then threw a handful of dirt into the grave before turning around and walking away. He seemed like a broken man, but he wasn't. He was more angry than sad that all of his plans were ruined, his son was dead and his wife had left him.

"Damn it, why is obedience so hard to follow?" Thomas thought to himself as he left the cemetery. "All I want is to not have radicals trying to change our way of life, that's all. It's up to men like me to raise today's generation according to the laws of our country. We cannot have garbage and some people just don't understand that garbage is garbage."

Just then, Thomas then drove by a park and saw what appeared to be a play going on. It was _Midsummer Night's Dream_ , the play that Neil was involved in.

"Garbage," he muttered as he drove off. "Nothing but garbage and false propaganda. We got into Germany's mess because of this garbage."

Soon, Thomas returned to the home he was now living in by himself. Once he got inside, he slammed the door and walked through the ruins of his home's destruction that he himself had caused.

"Damn it, Neil! Why could you just shut your mouth and obeyed me, your father? If you had only just done as you were told, you could have had it all, son!"

"Because I didn't want to do as you were told," said a voice and Thomas gasped at the sound of another voice in his presence. "I had a dream to be on the stage and because of you, dad, I gave up life on this Earth to be in the great stage of heaven. Why did you want me to become a doctor in the first place?"

"Because I am the boss of this family and I refuse to allow someone like yourself throw something like a career in medicine away," answered Thomas. "Neil, you disobeyed me by believing in the false propagandas of a madman instead of me, your own father!"

Suddenly, Thomas heard footsteps creeping towards him and then saw a shadow of someone walking towards him.

"Who's there?" he demanded, hastily racing over to grab a butcher's knife. "Come out, I say! Come out or I will call the police!"

The figure causing the shadows stepped out from behind the other room and revealed himself to be none other than John Keating.

"Keating, you son of a bitch," snarled Thomas, putting the knife back onto the counter. "If my house wasn't stenched with death, then I would kill you myself for what you did to my family."

"Kill me and the pain will only get worse, Mr. Perry," said Keating, clearly unfazed by Thomas' anger. "I know you must hate me for ruining your family, but you need to know that Neil had every right to follow his dreams."

"I DO HATE YOU, KEATING!" screamed Thomas, his eyes widened with anger. "My son's blood is on your hands, Keating, not mine! You brainwashed my son into believing that radicalism is the right path to follow."

"Radicalism?" remarked Keating, completely unfazed as he walked towards Thomas. "Was what I was teaching Neil radicalism? I have to disagree with you, Mr. Perry. Why is it that you wouldn't let your only son seize the day, follow his dreams to becoming an actor? Why is it hard to let someone do what their heart's desire? Neil's desire was to become an actor, not a doctor, but you just can't see it and when he killed himself, the blood is on your hands, but you refused to believe it."

"Get out," barked Thomas, reaching over to grab the butcher's knife. "Get out, Keating! Get out before I stab you with this!"

But, no matter what Thomas would try to do, Keating was not going to leave until he made Thomas Perry see the error of his ways…


	4. Accepting Responsibility

Chapter 4

"Accept Responsibility"

"I don't know what you want with me, Keating," Thomas said angrily as Keating stood in front of him, the butcher knife shaking in his hand. "But, if you don't get out of here now, I will call the police!"

"Call the police," said Keating, still unfazed. "But, having me arrested will not cause you to rid yourself of the guilt you put on yourself, Mr. Perry. I know you have misjudged me for who I am and I am here to tell you that what I did was teach your son to embrace his destiny."

Thomas watched as his dead son's teacher climbed up onto the table, towering over him.

"Destiny?" remarked Thomas. "Is that what this is about, to convince Neil that acting was his true destiny and not mine? I run this house and I run this family Keating and what I say goes!"

"Is that so? Well, I see a man who is in denial about the world changing around him! Traditions were meant to be broken and its my job to get young boys to adapt to the world around them. The world is changing, Thomas, and you refuse to believe it."

Thomas got to a point where he could no longer hold on to the butcher's knife and he threw it to the ground in disgust.

"I am not in denial, Keating," protested Thomas. "I am telling you the truth about my actions! Ever since the War ended, I've always had a fear that the beliefs that the Nazi's and those other radicals that were allied with them will one day destroy our country and our way of life! I refused to let myself and those around me fall victim to it! I chose the path for Neil because I am his father and I am trying to protect him from having a warped mind!"

"So that's it, isn't it?" said Keating, his voice becoming dangerous as he stepped off the table. "You compare me to a monster that murdered millions of people simply because they were different? How dare you accuse me of such a thing, Thomas Perry, whereas the lessons I taught your son and his classmates were of true importance? Whether you like it or not, Thomas, the world is changing and either learn to live with it or else!"

"Or else what?" asked Thomas.

"Or else…" Keating tried to answer, but to no avail. "To tell you the truth, I don't know what else. But, all I know is that the world you live in is over, Thomas. Acting, writing, speaking, that's the world that is on the rise and that's what young people are embracing. You need to let them embrace what they want to embrace. You killed Neil because you didn't let him embrace what he wanted to embrace."

There was an awkward silence between the two men for a few moments and Thomas Perry could see through the eyes of John Keating that he was the one truly responsible for what had happened.

"Even though you didn't kill Neil physically," said Keating, pushing Thomas back against the kitchen wall. "You killed him mentally, Thomas and the blood is on your hands…not mine. Your family is gone and your way of life is gone all because of you not letting Neil embrace his destiny."

Thomas remained steadfast as Keating left the kitchen, leaving Thomas alone to think about his actions. Once he heard the door closed, Thomas turned to the kitchen wall and letting out a loud cry, he punched a hole in the wall as tears began forming at the corners of his eyes.

"He right," cried Thomas in a hushed voice. "He's right! What have I done? Neil, please, I beg you to forgive me for what I have done to you!"

In a fit of saddened rage, Thomas went about destroying whatever undamaged parts of his kitchen remained standing. Now, his house was a mess, just like his life and his family.

…

Meanwhile, Keating drove away from the Perry home feeling somewhat sorry for Thomas. However, he knew that whatever words that were spoken to him were words that contained the cold dark truth.

"Now, the decision is yours, Thomas," sighed Keating. "Accept responsibility for your actions or live in denial for the rest of your life. The choice is yours."

Soon, he drove past the motel where Mrs. Perry had been staying and part of him wanted to tell her what he had just done to her husband, but he didn't and instead drove towards his former school, Welton Academy. Keating knew that he needed to tell his former boss the truth about what really happened to Neil and no one was going to stop him.

"Come in," called a voice as Keating knocked on the door of his former boss, Mr. Nolan. He stepped inside and faced Mr. Nolan who was in the middle of doing some paperwork. Nolan looked up and saw his former employee standing right in front of him. "What do you want, Mr. Keating?"

"I've come with the truth about what really happened to Neil Perry," he said, but Mr. Nolan wasn't convinced.

"You know you are responsible for Neil committing suicide, Mr. Keating," replied Mr. Nolan. "The investigation and witnesses proved you are responsible for Neil's death. Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do."

"What your investigation did was prove absolutely nothing," said Keating, slamming his hands on Mr. Nolan's desk. "They only said I did it to save themselves and believe in the world that will never change."

"I beg your pardon?" remarked Mr. Nolan. "Are you saying these things to try and take the responsibility of what happened to Neil Perry off of your hands, Mr. Keating? Because if you are, then your attempts are…"

"Telling you the truth about the world around you, Mr. Nolan," interrupted Keating, a hint of anger deep in his voice. "Your traditions and your way of life is coming to an end and it was my job to get the boys to embrace what was in front of them! Do you know what the words Carpe Diem means?"

"Of course I do," cried Mr. Nolan. "It means to…"

"Seize the day," interrupted Keating again. "And that's what you, Thomas Perry and all the other deniers must learn to accept. Because of your stubborn ways, Neil Perry is dead and like Thomas Perry, you need to embrace what is happening around you! The choice is yours, Mr. Nolan. Good day."

Without another word, Keating walked out of Mr. Nolan's office, slamming the door behind him.

"Now its in your hands, God," Keating thought to himself as he drove away from his former place of employment. "Make them realize the error of their ways before it is too late."


End file.
